Teen pregnancy at a low in Washington state

Pregnancy rates indicate teenagers in Washington state are having safer sex — or having less sex altogether.

Data released Thursday by the state department of health show pregnancy rates for teens ages 15 through 19 are at their lowest since 1980. In 2009, the rate was 46.6 pregnancies per 1,000 teens.

Washington’s teen pregnancy rate peeked in 1989, with 96 pregnancies per 1,000 teens. State health officials said Wednesday that the rate of pregnancies for teenagers aged 15 through 17 decreased dramatically in 2009 — 24 pregnancies for every 1,000 teens — after remaining relatively stagnant for several years.

“The reasons for the decreases aren’t exactly clear,” Health Department officials wrote in a prepared statement. “Factors that could be at play include safe sex practices, abstinence, and increased availability and acceptability of contraceptives.”

Abortion rates for teens between the ages of 15 and 19 are also lower: 16.6 in 2009 compared with 18.7 in 2008.

Lower abortion rates don’t only apply to teens. The Health Department reports all women of childbearing age — that’s 15 through 44, according to state standards — are having fewer abortions. The rate was 16.7 per 1,000 pregnancies last year, compared with 18 per 1,000 in 2008.

Women in that age group are also getting pregnant at lower rates: 83 per 1,000 in 2009 compared with 85.2 per 1,000 in 2008.